Latest News
New events, activities highlight Convention 2011!
The MSEA Convention, held each fall, is a jam-packed event with exhibits, workshops, music, prizes, and the important Association business of the annual 700-delegate representative assembly. Read more >>
Ruth Ann Hall Scholars Announced
Fifteen CCPS Middle School Students were awarded the Ruth Ann Hall Scholar Award at the CCPS Board of Education Meeting on June 14th.
The Ruth Ann Hall Champion Scholar Award was established by the EACC as a memorial to Ruth Ann Hall. Ms. Hall was a teacher in Charles County for over twenty years and a passionate advocate for children and public education. She was a recipient of the Agnes Myers Washington Post teacher of the year award, and she was respected and loved by her students. In her memory, we have established this award for middle school students, since her last assignment was at Mattawoman Middle School. These students were nominated by their teachers for a variety of outstanding characteristics including scholarship, hard work, or positive attitude towards learning. Please see the attached list of student scholars.
Video of Wisconsin Solidarity Rally with MSEA, labor leaders, and elected officials
Yesterday at noon, members and leaders from MSEA, AFSCME, AFL, and other labor organizations held a solidarity rally in Annapolis in support of our brothers and sisters in Wisconsin. Turnout was strong and we were joined by Lt. Gov. Brown, Senate President Miller, and many other elected officials who spoke in support of collective bargaining and in solidarity with our fellow unions in Wisconsin. Please take a moment to watch this video of yesterday’s rally and share with it your members and colleagues: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE7Hf6mZjuU
Don’t miss the message on the closing screen of the video: “we’re only getting warmed up!” The countdown is on - we’re less than three weeks away from our big show of force in Annapolis! Let’s keep it up and keep doing all that we can to make this rally unforgettable for our members and our elected officials.
Join the Keep the Promise campaign! Protect your pension, your evaluation, and school funding
They’re all coming together at once: threats of cutting your pension, slashing school funding, and revamping your evaluation without local input. There’s not been a more important time in recent years for public school employees to turn up the volume and make their voices heard. Read more >>
Theresa Lochte for State Retirement and Pension System Board of Trustees
At the MSEA annual convention on October 15, the representative assembly voted to endorse the re-election of Theresa Lochte to the state retirement agency board of trustees. Theresa is currently finishing her first term on the board of trustees, where she has been an effective and highly regarded advocate for teachers, educational support professionals and retirees who are members of the teachers’ retirement and pension systems. As a trustee, Theresa serves on the Administrative and Audit Committees of the board.
Theresa is a retired speech-language pathologist from Baltimore County Public Schools. During her 38 year career, she was an active member of the Teachers Association of Baltimore County (TABCO) and MSTA/MSEA. She served for many years as a building representative and several terms on the TABCO board of directors.
Theresa also has been very active on the state level having served on the MSEA IPD Committee and MSDE’s Reading First State Leadership Team.
In order to be eligible to run for this seat, a candidate must be a retired member of the state teachers’ retirement or pension systems. A candidate also must also collect 500 signatures and birth dates of members of the teachers’ retirement or pension systems, either active or retired, on the requisite nominating petition form.
We need your help in collecting the 500 signatures required for Theresa’s re-election. Please find the nomination petition form attached, which is required by the retirement agency for collecting the requisite signatures. Please note that the nominating petitions are double-sided and can be photocopied as necessary as long as the double-sided format is maintained.
We are asking that each Building Representative circulate the form throughout your school/worksite to collect signatures from faculty and staff, members and non-members. It is important that each person signing the petition include their printed name, birth date, and signature as the retirement agency must verify that each signatory is a member in good standing of the teacher systems and certify that each candidate has obtained the required number of valid signatures to qualify to be on the ballot.
In order to get the petition forms to the retirement agency by the deadline, we are asking that each Building Representative return all completed petition forms to the EACC office via the pony by December 22, 2010. This is the last day before the holiday break. If you have any questions or problems, please do not hesitate to contact the EACC office.
Save money with NEA’s new Click & Save!
NEA Click & Save is a new discount shopping service for MSEA members from NEA Member Benefits. Click & Save offers savings on brand name merchandise from hundreds of top retailers, online stores, and local merchants. Click & Save replaces ACCESS savings as MSEA’s exclusive discount savings program.
Take advantage of hundreds of exclusive offers available everyday! New offers are added daily and you can set email reminders for your favorite merchants to be notified in advance of upcoming sales and discounts.
Here’s a sampling of some of the recent discounts: 15% off New Balance; 10% off Target; 500 Netflix points; 40% off Puma ; 25% off Anne Klein; $20 off 7 For All Mankind; 50% off Tory Burch; 25% off quality headphones at Skullcandy; 60% off Urban Outfitters; 40% off PETCO; 20% off Linens ‘n Things; 20% off Scholastic store; 40% off the History Channel store, and much more.
Start saving! Visit www.neamb.com/savenow/msea. If you’ve already registered on the NEA Member benefits website, simply sign in to Click & Save. If not, registration is fast and easy. For more information, or assistance with registration, visit www.marylandeducators.org/clickandsave, or call 800/637-4636.
BONUS! Give the gift of NEA Click & Save to your friends and family. Click & Save members can invite four friends to join! Click on the “Invite a Friend” button when you sign in or register.
2010 Primary Election Results
Thanks to the MANY volunteer EACC members who worked the polling places, who walked neighborhoods in the county with us, distributing literature about our endorsed candidates, we are thrilled to report that ALL BUT ONE of our recommended Friends of Education are in the lead following yesterday’s primary election. Read more >>
Teacher Endorsed Candidates
The Education Association of Charles County (EACC) recommends the following friends of education in the primary election on September 14, 2010. Read More >>
Race to the Top
- Maryland has been selected as a finalist in the "competition" to receive a RTTT grant from the US Department of Education. The selection of Maryland was based on State Superintendent Grasmick's application, which EACC and MSEA believe is out of compliance with the law – the Education Reform Act of 2010 – as passed by the Maryland General Assembly. For more information, see MSEA's website.
- EACC and MSEA continue to have serious concerns about typing educators' evaluation to "student growth," because student growth is influenced by so many factors beyond teacher and principal control, like class size, parental involvement, materials of instruction available, student attendance, etc.
- Charles County is one of seven Maryland counties selected to "pilot" an evaluation that links student growth to evaluation. EACC has been working with other pilot counties across Maryland in a special Pilot County Workgroup to try to design an evaluation system that is fair to educators but meets the requirements of the new law.
- The law requires the local Board of Education to "collaborate" with the union on teachers evaluations. However, EACC has negotiated language in the our contract (Article 23) that requires the Charles County Board and the EACC to negotiate the evaluation instrument. This means that the stipulations will be in the contract and thus enforceable. The first meeting of the Joint study committee on evaluations is September 20, 2010. Members with suggestions for the evaluation instrument should email them to EACC President Liz Brown at ebrown@mseanea.org.